Chapter 303
A Two-Front Battle Plan is the 303rd chapter of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail. Back at Honey Bone Lodge, Makarov and the others discuss Lucy's arrest. They begin to think of the possible reasons but are only aware that it had to have something to do with the Eclipse Project. In the cells of Mercurius, Lucy and Yukino think of a way to escape and discuss the Eclipse Plan. The next day, the final day of the Grand Magic Games begins with each team entering the Domus Flau. Elsewhere, Mirajane, Wendy, Natsu, and the Exceeds head towards Mercurius using the Grand Magic Games as a distraction. Summary Natsu and his friends return to their lodgings to discuss what to do about Lucy's recent capture. Natsu, restrained to a pillar, yells how he should go rescue Lucy right away, but Wendy and Happy try to convince him otherwise; looking how his reckless actions could lead to Fairy Tail becoming enemies of the entire army. Knowing that they can't head to save Lucy and make public enemies of themselves, Makarov begins to wonder why Lucy was captured. Gajeel, feeling uneasy about the whole event, asks why the rest of them weren't captured with Lucy. Panther Lily argues that they were perhaps needed as witnesses to be used against Arcadios but Carla asks if the empire would really risk leaking information to stop the Knight. Erza suggests that the empire may feel that hiding the secret of the Eclipse project to be useless now, with Gray agreeing seeing how to keep it a secret all of them would have to be captured. Mirajane also backs up their ideas looking how if they all were captured people would get suspicious of members of Team Fairy Tail not being present on the last day of the Grand Magic Games. They then come to the conclusion that Lucy's capture, being unfortunate as it is for them all, does not interfere with the empire's justice system. Natsu then breaks free of the ropes, tired of all the talking and angrily tries to leave the lodge to try save Lucy but is quickly stopped by Makarov as he smashes the Dragon Slayer into the ground. He tells Natsu that they all feel the same about Lucy being taken away like that but looking at their opposition he tells Natsu that they need to be more careful with their actions in the future. Nonetheless Makarov tells Natsu that they won't stand down and do nothing like cowards. Meanwhile in the prison of Mercurius, Lucy and Yukino are locked in their cells. Yukino begins to become depressed believing she has only brought misfortune upon Lucy, but Lucy begins to comfort and tells her not to be depressed and that they need to think of a way to escape. A little bit surprised over Lucy's concern, Yukino tells her they need to get her keys back first. Yukino then apologizes knowing that if she didn't show her the Eclipse they wouldn't be in that position but again, Lucy tries to make Yukino feel better telling her that it wasn't her fault as they were just sucked up into the plan and how it is just about whether or not the empire should go through with the Eclipse Plan. Yukino then tells Lucy that the plan should happen. Shocked by this, Lucy listens to Yukino reason as she begins to tell her about her past as a child when she lived with her older sister, Sorano and the rest of her family. She tells Lucy how she was scolded by her parents a lot and how her sister would stick up for her when this did happen. This changed when a group that worshiped Zeref killed her parents and kidnapped Sorano. Yukino then tells Lucy, as tears begin to fall from her eyes, that she is uncertain even if her sister survived her capture but if they were able to go through with the Eclipse Plan the event never would have occurred. Lucy then thinks over what she was just told, feeling sorry for Yukino yet worries about what would happen to the present if the Eclipse Plan was carried out. The next day then begins with the final day of the Grand Magic Games. Fireworks fill the sky as the arena erupts with the sound of cheering fans rooting for their favorite teams. Chapati then introduces the judges with the usual line up of himself and Yajima and the new guest judge Mato: the event mascot. Now with their introductions out of the way, the teams begin to enter the Domus Flau. First to enter and overall sixth place in the Grand Magic Games comes Team Quatro Puppy. They are then followed by Team Blue Pegasus who made the change to their team setup by removing Nichiya and bringing back Eve after recovering from his injuries given to him by Rufus of Sabertooth. Next to enter is Team Lamia Scale followed by Team Mermaid Heel. Second last to enter are former victors and current second place, Team Sabertooth. The crowd begins to converse among one another about the team as Chapati comments on how the vibe the team were giving of the last couple of days had changed with Yajima wondering if they had regained their spirits. Three members of the crowd then notice Frosch alone on the edge of the stand, wondering what happen to Lector and down in the arena, Sting thinks of his lost friend remembering how he used to cheer him on with that smile of his and vows that he won't lose again. Now with all the other teams having entered the arena the crowd begins to cheer for the final team to enter. Suddenly those cheers turn into sounds of confusion as Team Fairy Tail enters with Juvia replacing Natsu bringing disappointment and confusion to the crowd and competitors alike, yet some joy is taken out of this incident by some of the Mages like Lyon, getting to see Juvia again, and Sting, seeing that the absence of Natsu as a sign of luck. Looking down on the arena, Darton expects Natsu's absence being due to being unable to recover from his Magic being absorbed by the Eclipse. In the crowd the rest of the Fairy Tail members cheer for their team hoping for each member to do their best as Mavis asks if Makarov has thought his plan through. Makarov tells Mavis how it was the only option to send Natsu, Mirajane, Wendy, Happy, Carla and Panther Lily to save Lucy as their chances of winning the Grand Magic Games is uncertain. Now under the cover of the Grand Magic Games Natsu and the rest of his group set out to save Lucy. Characters in Order of Appearance Battles & Events *Lucy Heartfilia's Rescue from Mercurius (started) Magic, Spells, and Abilities used Magic used * |Ēra}} * |Jiyaianto}} * Spells used *None Abilities used *Flight Navigation